Shadow's POV:

The 141 base came into sight. I was sitting on the bus with a bunch of new blood. So far, they had ignored me, and I preferred it that way. My own thoughts were starting to get to me. I was wondering why new recruits were coming in just now. Either the 141 had lost someone, or these were just good bastards.

As we got off the bus, I saw Ghost standing to terrorize the new recruits. Surprisingly, I didn't feel mad at him. He had done the right thing. When I got off the bus, Ghost didn't even look at me. He turned the new recruits and started screaming at them. I was kind of pissed. I just got back from hospital and this fucker didn't even care. But before I could really say anything, I was hit by a full force hug from Roach. "Shadow!" He yelled, "You're back!" I couldn't help but grin, and hug him back. When he finally let go off me, I looked at him and said "Damn bug, you really missed me." Roach just gave me his typical puppy eyes grin.

We walked back to my barracks, when Roach remembered he had to go to shooting practice. He ran off and left me to find my room. I walked through the hall, and finally found the door. "Home sweet home" I muttered under my breath as I entered the room. Scott was sitting on his bed, and had a bunch of his stuff on my bed. His nose was buried in a book, and he didn't look up when I got in. "Hey Scott." I said. He jumped, which elicited a snort out of me. Looking up, he grinned at me "Hey. Nice to see you again. You look great."

"Scott, I always look great." I said in a faux obnoxious voice. Scott grinned, and then got up to pick his stuff off my bed. As I went to drop my bag on my bed, I saw a picture Scott had put up on the wall. It was of him and another guy holding bottles of beer, grinning. My heart skipped a beat when I realized who it was. Scott saw me looking, and said, "That's Ethan. He's my buddy who died."

Flashback:

Unknown POV:

I struggled through the desert. My team was dead. I had held my CO in my arms, as he bled out. They knew we were coming, and everything went to fucking pieces. I had long since ditched my body armor and all I was carrying was a canteen of water and my rifle. The Desert Rats, or Al-Qaeda, were on my tail. I wasn't sure how far I could go, with virtually no water and just two clips of ammo. Just then, I heard a jeep's engine. Fuck. I went prone, and peered down the scope of my rifle. Then the attack came from behind me. I turned around and opened fire. I could feel my blood pouring out from my side. I wouldn't get to meet Scott again. The kid was my little brother, and I hoped he would carry on. I pulled the trigger till the clip fell out. I reloaded, and then realized that someone else was firing at the Rats. My vision was getting blurry, and I heard a man yell "Hawkins! Get the soldier." I felt a pair of arms wrap around me, as a figure came into my view. All I could make out was brown hair, almost silhouetted by the sunlight. A female voice, the woman's voice, filled with urgency said "What's your name soldier?" I managed to croak "Macks, Ethan." My vision then clouded, and everything went black.

Present.

Shadow's POV:

Ethan wasn't dead. I knew that, because I rescued him in order to recruit him for the CIA. He flat lined on the chopper, but we managed to resuscitate him. The thing about the squad I worked on, and the one Ethan would soon join, was that we were all "dead". Legally, officially, every way but actually dead. We needed to be able to become anyone, to be able to house ourselves in the shell of any identity, go deep undercover at any moment. Best way to feel at home being anyone? Be no one. That's why Ethan, and I too, when I was recruited by Roy, faked our deaths. There was only a handful of people on Earth who knew the truth, that Ethan Macks and Genevieve Hawkins are still alive. But I couldn't tell Scott that. No one could know. Heck, I didn't even know if the guy was still alive. Last I saw him, he was going off on a deep cover mission; deeper than mine was. Scott didn't seem to notice my heart attack, probably because of Mactavish enetering the room. "Bloody hell lass. It's good to see you." He exclaimed. Man I had missed his Scottish accent. I grinned at him, and he motioned for me to follow him. As we walked, he said "I've got someone you should meet." He then explained that they had gone to get a certain prisoner 627. The mission was success, but Worm had been burnt severely, and was still in hospital. The doctors really had no idea about how well he would recover.

We walked upto a room, right next to Mactavish's and Mactavish opened the door without knocking. For the second time that day, I had a heart attack. "Who the hell is this, Soap?" a gruff British voice asked me. I couldn't find my voice so Mactavish made the introductions "Shadow, this is Captain John Price, or 627." I still was having difficulty lifting my jaw off the floor. The Captain Price was here?! The man was a god damned legend. Price just grunted and turned around. Mactavish chuckled and we left Price alone. "So wadya think of Price?" He asked. "He… What? When? And why the hell did he call you Soap?" I asked. Mactavish told me all about the mission, and how they rescued Price. Apparently Soap was his nickname back in his SAS days, but it died once Price went MIA.

Just then, Ghost appeared out of nowhere. My heart sped up, but once again he ignored me. He spoke to Mactavish about the new recruits and then left. I couldn't figure out why he was acting like such an ass. Soap must have figured that I was feeling miffed, because he quietly walked away. I was standing by myself in the middle of the hallway. I glanced at my watch, and realized it was getting close to training time. At least then Ghost would have to talk to me.

I went back to my room, and grabbed my kit. Once I was ready, I reported outside with the rest of the 141. Roach was standing next to me, and he looked jittery. I had a feeling Archer, who had a very sly smile on his face, had something to do with it. Before I could ask Roach what had happened, Ghost showed up. He ordered us to start running and took off like a rocket. We were all struggling to keep up, and this included Roach and Toad, both of whom used to be excellently fit. We stopped running and before we could get our breath, Ghost yelled "Alright muppets, lets get some CQC in." Everyone groaned. And then started pairing up when Ghost gave us the death glare through his mask. Strangely enough, Roach paired up with Archer. No one paired up with me, and no one in their right mind would take on Ghost. So since I was alone, I had drawn the short straw and had to take on Ghost. We walked to the mat, and he looked at me. Then without warning, he attacked. I barely managed to last thirty seconds and then I was pinned. Ghost got off and said "What ya waiting for? Get your ass up." I got up. I wasn't able to figure out why he was being a major dick. We grappled again, and he tossed me down without even flinching. As I hit the mat, he turned around, and began walking away. That was when I lost it. I got up and rugby tackled Ghost. He staggered under my weight but didn't fall. All around, the other guys were staring at us. Ghost twisted, and tried to get me off, but I hung on. Finally, he managed to break my grip and I fell again.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you Shadow?" Ghost yelled. "You! You, you fucking ass. Ever since I got back, you've been ignoring me! What the bloody hell is going on?" Ghost looked pissed; well he always does under that mask of his. "My problem is that I nearly got you killed!" He yelled back. "Have you ever seen someone you love die in front of your eyes? I have!" Then he stormed out. I was stunned. Did Ghost just say he loved me? I felt my eyes tear up, and I then I felt a pair of arms come around me. I started crying, and realized that Roach was holding me close. I cried into his chest, and he just held me while I cried. When I stopped crying, I looked at Roach and asked "Did Ghost just say he loved me?" Roach nodded, and then he asked "Do you love him?" I nodded slightly. "Then go talk to him you idiot!" Roach grinned. I playfully punched his arm and chased after Ghost. I was jogging and ran straight into Price. "Watch it." He growled. "Sorry! Haven't seen Ghost have you?" I asked him. He pointed, and I took off, yelling my thanks over my shoulder. I finally found Ghost sitting on the roof of the base. I slowly walked to him. He didn't turn around. "Ghost?" I touched his shoulder. He slowly turned his head. He wasn't wearing his sunglasses and I could see his blue eyes were bloodshot. "Whadya want Shadow? I said what I had to." "Ghost, I love you too." I whispered. Ghost looked at me, and then reached under his mask and pulled it off. There was a huge scar running from his left temple to his nose. "Can you love this face Kate? Can you?" He asked softly. I didn't answer; I just leaned in and kissed him.

It wasn't exactly like the last time, when we were both holding back our feelings. Ghost's hands rested on my hips as we leaned into each other, passion flowing through every cell in our bodies.

When we finally broke apart, I looked into Ghost's eyes, and realized that he had been hurt. He smiled at me, and we walked down to the mess room, holding hands. As we walked in, I heard a dull thump, and turned to the right to see Roach holding a bottle of champagne and a big grin on his face. The rest of the 141 were grinning at us too, and Archer and Toad were wolf whistling. I blushed, and was jealous of Ghost, who had hidden himself behind his bloody mask before we came down. "Bout time you two" I heard Price say. He was smiling, and I distinctly noticed Roach collecting notes from Archer, Toad and Beater. "You wankers bet on us?" Ghost exclaimed, evidently having seen the same thing I did. Roach grinned, and then turned and ran, Archer, Toad and Beater right behind him. Ghost took off after them too, saying something along the lines of a flagpole and castrations. After the five of them left, Soap came over with a grin and said "Well lass, you finally hooked up with the dreaded Lieutenant, eh? And not while escaping the mafia either." I grinned remembering the first time I kissed Ghost.

Not bad for a first day back, I thought, chuckling to myself.

AN: Hey guys, this is King112. SMakarov has let me finish her story for her. The MW2 plotline is hers, I'm just making that plotline a story. Review please! I would love to hear from you guys, about how to improve the story and stuff! Let me know if you liked it. I know it's a different writing styles of SMakarov's but hey, this me, King112, and that's her. Cheers!

Also, I want to thank SMakarov for being the beta reader for this story!